Minimally Invasive Surgery

Baptist Health Lexington:Minimally Invasive Surgery

Doctor JENNIFER FUSON discusses the advantages of using minimally invasive surgical techniques, which allow patients to experience less pain and have a more productive recovery.

Minimally Invasive Surgery Health Talks Transcript

Jennifer Fuson, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology

Patients choose minimally invasive surgery for several reasons. First is, there is less pain following the operation that allows them to get back to what they love doing quicker, back to their families and their busy lives. Secondly, the incisions can be made in a more cosmetic fashion, hiding scars in places that are less seen. Minimally invasive surgery in gynecology can be used to accomplish hysterectomies. We can treat tubal disease. We can treat ovarian disease. We can also treat pelvic support disorders. Throughout different specialties in the hospital, minimally invasive surgery is used in orthopedics, in general surgery, in cardiovascular surgery. It’s used really in every specialty. The da Vinci® robot allows us to magnify views, it allows us to see in three dimensions, and it allows us to get into spaces that would be very difficult in two-dimensional laparoscopy. This allows us to find individual vessels and treat bleeding, versus treat entire pedicles of tissue that require more destruction. Because they have very little pain, most patients are able to walk around their home even the evening of the surgery. They’re back to driving a car within a week. Truly, the full recovery takes the same amount of time because the body takes a certain amount of time to heal from surgery, but it allows that recovery time to be more productive for women.